


Aurora

by WollWolke



Category: ATEEZ (Band), K-pop
Genre: F/M, Idols, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24791431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WollWolke/pseuds/WollWolke
Summary: Following her parents' divorce, Yeseul moves from Germany to Seoul with her mother. Leaving behind half of your family at the other end of the world isn't pleasant but Yeseul finally decides to follow her dream of becoming a singer. It's a difficult road and falling in love on the way doesn't make it easier... || Park Seonghwa x Trainee!OC
Relationships: Park Seonghwa/Original Character(s), Park Seonghwa/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 4





	1. Überraschung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeseul is living another day in her fairly uneventful life when she gets the long awaited call that determines her future.

**° Überraschung °**

-> astonishment, surprise  
  


“Thank you, sir! Have a nice evening!” Hwang Yeseul said with a bright smile on her face. As soon as the customer left through the door and she was once again alone in the tiny convenience store, she plopped down on a chair behind the counter. She sent a glance around the room to make sure everything was still in order and place before reaching for her phone. 9:45 pm, 15 minutes left on her shift. 

The young woman swiftly checked a few messages from her friends, opting to answer them after she got off. She’d gotten a few invitations to go out to a party which she’d have to decline. It was a Friday night and it wasn’t that Yeseul hated partying. Sure, she wasn’t what you’d call a party animal either but she did enjoy a night out once in a while, especially with the right company. Tonight, however, she was just too tired. The owner of the store she worked at was sick with the flu and due to the lack of employees the small business had, she had spent most of the day running the store all on her own. She couldn’t wait for her co-worker to come in and relieve her from her shift. 

Exactly at 10 pm, said person came shuffling through the door. Jinwoo, a university student who had been working at the store for only a few weeks longer than Yeseul, looked like he wasn’t exactly thrilled about getting the night shift. Throughout the whole week, at least once a day, he had excitedly mentioned his plans to go clubbing with his best friends. It would have been the first time in ages for him as he had finally finished all of his exams for the semester but now he was stuck at work. She would have gladly taken the night shift but the owner didn’t let her, saying someone so young and fragile like her shouldn’t be working alone at such hours. 

Despite his frustration, Jinwoo gave her a tired smile and a small bow as he laid his eyes on her. He immediately went towards a fridge in the back and grabbed an energy drink while she gathered her belongings and got ready to leave.  
“Noona, thank you for taking care of the store for so long, make sure to get some rest.”

“I will, Jinwoo. Take care, okay? And call me if something’s wrong!”

With a wave, she exited the store and stepped into the cold night air. The streets were empty, except for a delivery man on a moped who almost ran her over. She secured the scarf around her neck as the wind picked up when suddenly her phone buzzed in the pocket of her coat. Yeseul took it out and checked the display only to see a number she didn’t recognize. She contemplated for a second whether she should pick up a call from an unknown number, it might just be a scam call and she usually had a hard time turning down these people because she hated being mean to people just doing their job. But then she remembered that she was expecting an important call so there was no way she could ignore it. 

“Hello?”  
“Hello, am I talking to Hwang Yeseul?” a male voice spoke.  
“Yes, that’s me, how can I help you?”  
“My name is Kang Haejun. I am a manager at KQ Entertainment.” 

She stopped dead in her tracks. This was the call she had been desperately waiting for. The man continued: “First of all, I’m very sorry for the late call. We had to fit in an important meeting. Anyway, we have reviewed your original audition tape and the recordings of your second audition at our agency last week. I’ll just be blunt: We want you to become one of our trainees, when can you begin?”

Yeseul took a few seconds to collect her thoughts, forgetting to breathe in the process. She couldn’t believe her ears. This was happening. She stammered for a second as soon as she found her voice before she remembered that the person on the other end was expecting a coherent response soon. 

“Whenever you want me and allow me to, sir. I’m fairly flexible.”  
“Wonderful! We’d like you to come to the agency at 8 am tomorrow to discuss the contract, your training will start in the afternoon. Is that alright with you?”  
“More than alright, thank you very much!”

The call ended. Yeseul stared at her phone’s display for a good minute, processing the conversation that had just taken place. Then, she squealed and allowed herself to jump from excitement, knowing no one would be watching at this time of the day in an empty alleyway. 

She made it! She got accepted! The hard part was only starting now but she’d already gotten one step closer to fulfilling her dream. 

She didn’t live too far from the store she worked at part-time, so she started walking again, even picking up her speed until she was almost sprinting, desperate get home and share the news.

As soon as she entered the small apartment, she was hit with the smell of dinner. Her mother was in the kitchen, apparently making Kimchi stew, as she guessed from the scent. Yeseul went over to her, leaning against the door frame and trying to play things cool. She soon failed, however, as she couldn’t keep a proud smile off her face.

“Now, what’s up with you? I haven’t seen you this happy in a while,” her mother mentioned, an eyebrow raised questioningly. “Did something happen?”  
  
“Oh, nothing special happened.” Yeseul went over to the cupboard, getting out dishes to set the table. “I just may or may not have gotten accepted into KQ Entertainment.” She heard the chopsticks clink as her mother set them down to look at her with widened eyes. There was a smile on her face but also a hint of worry in her eyes.

A sigh left the young girl’s mouth at the reaction.  
“I know you’re worried, mom…It’s a small agency and I might not even get to debut. But I want to make this work, I have to. This is my dream.” 

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you, I really am. It’s my duty as your mother to be worried but I will support you nevertheless. I trust you. So, when are you starting?

“Training starts in the afternoon but they want me to come in the morning to talk about the contract.”  
“Then let’s eat and after that, you should go to sleep immediately! You don’t want to show up with circles under your eyes, do you?” Yeseul playfully rolled her eyes at the teasing words. 

After dinner, her mother gave her a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead before sending her to bed, just like a child. 

Sleep didn’t find her easily, that night. Yeseul’s thoughts kept racing as she kept wondering and worrying about the next day. She was finally beginning her journey and her feelings were a mix of excitement and anxiety.  
‘You’ll be fine’, she kept telling herself to calm her nerves but in the end, it took her a few hours to fall into a dreamless sleep. 


	2. Aufregung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeseul signs her contract, gets a tour through KQ Entertainment, and meets an interesting stranger.

**° Aufregung °**

-> astonishment, anxiety, commotion

When she woke up the next morning and took a look in the mirror, she could only sigh at her appearance. Her mother was only joking at dinner but after a night of restless sleep, the circles under Yeseul’s eyes seemed a lot more prominent than usual. She put on a light layer of casual makeup to hide the fatigue on her face. **  
**

Her mother had already left for work and even though it was very early in the morning, she had left her a reassuring note, a lunch box, and a small plate of fresh pancakes on the kitchen table. She hadn’t eaten those in ages! Her father used to make them every Sunday but after moving to Seoul, eating pancakes became nothing more than a pleasant memory. Yeseul dug in and despite her stomach demonstrating a little because of her nervousness, she tried to enjoy her special breakfast as much as she could. They were different than the ones they ate in Germany, but she appreciated that her mother had taken the time to prepare them for her. 

After finishing her meal and once more making sure that she looked presentable, she went on her way to the agency. Lucky for her, the building was only a few subway stops away from her home so it took her about 20 minutes to reach her destination. The first thing she noticed, was the 7/11 on the ground floor next to the agency’s entrance. That would surely prove to be convenient.

Yeseul hesitated at the door that would lead her to KQ Entertainment. First, her excitement and anxiety were fairly well balanced, but within a few seconds, the latter doubled and overpowered her. This was her dream but all the doubts and worries she had managed to push away last night, came crashing down on her again. She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Before she could let her thoughts get the better of her, she pressed the doorbell. No turning back now. 

“Hello?”  
“Uhh, hello. I’m Hwang Yeseul and I have an appointment for 8 am.”  
God, why did that sound she was here to see a doctor? _Stop overthinking_ , she quickly reprimanded herself.  
“Ah, yes! Come up please.” 

The door buzzed and she hesitantly entered the building. The stairway she found herself in was bright, mostly white and grey but a few potted plants made sure it didn’t look too sterile. She walked up to the 3rd floor where she was greeted by a man who introduced himself as Kang Haejun, the same person she had talked to on the phone last night. He was a head taller than her, a bit chubby, and addressed her with a warm smile that reached his eyes.  
“Welcome, I’m glad to see you! Please follow me, the CEO is ready to talk to you.” 

Yeseul followed him through the office. She politely greeted a few people but didn’t have a lot of time to look around. The place wasn’t very big but she assumed they occupied more than this one floor as she hadn’t seen any practice rooms or studios yet. At the far end of a corridor, Mr. Kang knocked on a door and sent her inside after getting a short “Come in.” from the other side. 

She carefully entered what she realized to be the CEO’s office and closed the door behind her. 

A man behind the desk stood up and motioned for her to sit down. As soon as she took her seat opposite him, she suddenly felt very vulnerable. The CEO seemed like a friendly man but he was still the person who would be in charge of her future, whose hands she’d be putting her career in. 

“I’m Kim Gyuwook and as you’ve already heard, we want you to train under our agency. I’ve got the contract prepared but I’d like to discuss the conditions and rules with you beforehand. It’s also very important to me that I get to know my trainees a little before I allow them to start training. So, I have a few questions.” Yeseul nodded shyly and he continued. “Don’t be nervous, though, I won’t interrogate you.” 

He pulled out a piece of paper which she recognized to be the profile she had sent in with her application. 

  
“Your profile says you speak English, German, and Korean fluently.”  
“Yes. I grew up bilingual, my mother is Korean, and my father German. I also started learning English at a very young age.”  
“Do you speak any other languages?”  
“I learned French in school but I don’t speak it too well anymore. I forgot everything except for the basics after graduating, to be honest.” 

The CEO let out a small laugh. “I feel like that’s a common theme for French learners somehow.” 

He took a few notes before going on.

“Are you working right now or studying at university?”

“I currently work part-time at a convenience store. I already talked to the owner and I can schedule my shifts in a way that they wouldn’t coincide with practice hours.” 

“That’s good. Now, why exactly do you want to become a trainee, or rather, an idol?”

She knew that question would be asked eventually and she had thought about how she would answer countless times before.  
“Back when I lived in Germany, I discovered K-Pop when I was going through kind of a rough patch. The music helped me become a happier person again and inspired me to become a singer. I want to stand on stage and give the same kind of encouragement and motivation to other people.” 

“I’m sure you’re aware that this won’t be easy. You might not debut anytime soon. In fact, there’s a chance you might never debut. It all depends on you and your determination.”

“I’m willing to go through it and take the risks if it means I get to do what I love and dream of.”

“Very well.” He gave her a satisfied smile and moved on. 

“It’s not a secret that all entertainment companies have a variety of rules for their trainees to follow and we are of course no exception. They are all mentioned in the contract but I would like to go over them with you so that there won’t be any misunderstandings.”  
Mr. Kim handed her a list of regulations and explained each of them thoroughly. 

Yeseul was allowed to have a cellphone but usage during classes and schedules was not permitted. She was also not allowed to post on social media from now on. 

Trainees were not allowed to date at all and artists had a dating ban until two years after their debut.

However, they didn’t care too much about keeping their male and female trainees apart, unlike other companies she heard of that wouldn’t even let them be in the same room together.  
“You know, how it works. If you forbid them, they will try to meet in secret all the more. There’s nothing wrong with making friends but if we do notice anyone getting too distracted though, we will take appropriate measures”, he explained. 

No smoking, drinking, or taking drugs. That one was fairly obvious. 

The part she was wondering about the most was the weight regulations.  
“There will be weekly weigh-ins. There is a weight range stated in your contract that you should stay in. We expect our trainees to be able to take care of appropriate calorie intake and healthy workout on their own. Unless you exceed that range or fall below it, we won’t be regulating your diet or putting you on a work-out routine.” 

She considered that a fair amount of freedom. 

Yeseul also had the choice to move into a dorm with some of the other female trainees but she decided not to as she didn’t live too far away from the company anyway. 

“Now, let’s talk about your training schedule. I don’t think I need to tell you that your vocals are great. There’s always room for improvement but you already have a good technique and stability.”  
Yeseul had taken singing lessons for a few years and felt fairly confident when it came to that. She dreaded what she knew was coming next, though. 

“However, your dancing is lacking.” She looked away in embarrassment. She had made sure to practice and learn a few basics before auditioning but she was well aware that she was definitely not very talented. 

“There’s potential, don’t worry. It’s nothing our dance teachers can’t fix. Some of our trainees started out way worse and managed to become decent dancers. You’ll just have to practice a lot more than others. Which is why you will also be taking more dance classes than singing classes to get you on one level with the others.” 

That made sense.  
“In addition to that, you will also be taking Japanese, acting, and modeling classes. Evaluations are once a week, every Saturday, and you will be recording demos in the studio every second week. Lessons in general start at 2 pm every day as most of the trainees still go to school in the morning but you can practice on your own at every time of the day. Sundays are off.” 

He slid her a piece of paper with her schedule. Today, she would have vocal lessons at 2 pm and dance lessons from 4 pm to 8 pm but as there were evaluations, she would only be watching and starting the real training on Monday.

“Be aware that if you don’t meet our expectations during evaluations or break any of the rules, the contract will be terminated.”

She voiced her understanding and after a few more questions from the CEO, he handed her the contract and showed her where to sign. She read through everything twice as he watched patiently, then signed, ready to start this new part of her life. 

It was almost 10 am when Kim Gyuwook dismissed her from his office with a handshake and wished her good luck. She still had a few hours until vocal lessons were supposed to start so she contemplated going home and taking a nap when Kang Haejun walked up to her offered her a tour around the agency. She gratefully agreed. 

He showed her around the office first, introducing her to a few people she would regularly be working with personally. Everyone was busy but still found the time to give her at least a friendly smile or wave. Just like she expected, KQ Entertainment occupied multiple levels of the building. The 3rd consisted of the office and various meeting rooms. He then led her down to the 2nd floor where the practice rooms and studios were located. She couldn’t take a look inside any of the rooms yet as almost all of the trainees were busy practicing for the evaluations but she made a mental note on where she would find the rooms later.  
There was also a small kitchen and break rooms with sofas on both of the floors. While showing her around, Mr. Kang also answered any other questions she had. 

He told her that they were currently training a total of 7 trainees including her. They had about 12 male trainees but apparently, eight of them were already training separately as they would be debuting as a group sometime in the second half of the year. He also let her know that she was one of the oldest trainees, being born in August of 1998. It made her worry a little. She knew that most trainees started their training at a way younger age. She was 19 years old now, could that be considered too old already? Would it lower her chances of debuting? She decided not to worry too much. If she was too old they wouldn’t have accepted her in the first place.

After the tour, more detailed explanations, and an extensive Q&A session it was almost noon. She felt a little bad for taking up Mr. Kang’s time but he reassured her that it was his job to introduce the new trainees to everything and make sure they felt comfortable. He also gave her his number and told her to contact her if she had any more questions or worries before returning to his office. 

It didn’t make sense for Yeseul to go home before practice anymore. She remembered the lunch box her mother had packed her but decided to save it for later as she didn’t feel like eating because of her nervousness. Still, she should eat at least something small, so she decided to head down to the convenience store to get a snack, something to reward herself taking this important step and to maybe even calm her nerves a little. 

The young woman headed downstairs into the 7/11, where was greeted by a friendly, elderly man. She bowed with a smile before she started browsing. 

As she walked through the narrow aisle, looking for an appropriate snack to celebrate today’s events, a group of boys entered the store.  
“We should get some chips for later!”  
“Aren’t you on a diet?”  
“Hyung, don’t be like that! I’ll just work out extra hard next week.” 

She scanned the shelves and couldn’t help but quietly snicker at their bickering. She looked over at them for a second, counting three young men. Yeseul didn’t pay them too much attention, even though they were hard to ignore, and instead continued her search. Just as she was about to grab a chocolate bar, her eyes landed on the freezer. It was February, still cold outside, and she had just been told about the weight regulations. Was it really appropriate to buy ice cream now? _Yes, it is_ , Yeseul decided. It was one of her comfort foods so she shrugged, opened the door of the freezer, and reached up. Whoever had put her favorite ice cream on the highest shelf surely must hold a personal vendetta against her. She wasn’t tiny, only a few centimeters under average height but this was troublesome. Just as her fingertips brushed against the plastic packaging, a figure next to her reached out and handed the sweet treat to her. Yeseul’s face lit up in excitement and she quickly bowed to the kind stranger.  
“Thank you so much!” When she looked up, she was met with the shyly smiling face of a man around her age, part of the group who had caused the commotion. He seemed quieter than the other two though, who she could still hear arguing over which snacks to get. 

“It’s not a problem. Is Melona your favorite?” His was voice soothing and hinting curiosity even though he was nervously rubbing his neck. She nodded eagerly in response.  
“Yes! It’s the best thing to eat when you want to celebrate, even when it’s cold outside…” She mentally scolded herself for rambling. She couldn’t help it, the sudden inquiry surprised her. Not that she minded, he seemed friendly and wasn’t overbearing at all.  
Yeseul could see he was about to ask what exactly she was celebrating but his two friends interrupted him.

“Seonghwa-hyung, I will buy these chips now and you can’t stop me.” One of them said as he headed to the counter to pay. The other one motioned for your savior to come over as they were getting ready to head out. The stranger, apparently named Seonghwa, gave you an apologetic smile, you bowed and wished each other a good day before he left with his friends. 

Could it be that they were trainees as well? All three of them looked awfully handsome, they talked about dieting and working out, and went shopping right at this store. The fact that they were also dressed in sports clothes led her to make that assumption. At the same time, it could have just been a coincidence. At the latest, she’d find out if she ran into them at the agency. 


End file.
